Discontinued Operations (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended					12 Months Ended						1 Months Ended		3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011 Properties	Sep. 30, 2011	Jun. 30, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Jun. 30, 2010	Dec. 31, 2011		Dec. 31, 2010		Dec. 31, 2009	Sep. 30, 2011 Secured Line of Credit 3 [Member]	Nov. 30, 2011 Westridge Square, Greensboro [Member]	Feb. 28, 2011 Oak Hollow Mall, High Point [Member]	Mar. 31, 2011 Oak Hollow Mall, High Point [Member]	Jun. 30, 2011 Oak Hollow Mall, High Point [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Pemberton Square [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Milford Marketplace [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Milford Marketplace [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Lakeview Pointe [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Lakeview Pointe [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Lakeview Pointe [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Lakeview Pointe [Member]	Dec. 31, 2009 Lakeview Pointe [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Properties classified as held-for-sale	1
Gross sales price												$ 26,125	$ 9,000			$ 1,863		$ 111,835		$ 21,000
Retirement of debt, principal and accrued interest													40,281
Gain (loss) on extinguishment of debt						1,029		0		(601)				31,434
Non cash loss on impairment of long lived asset														2,746				12,363		1,302
Impairment of Real Estate		51,304	4,457	14,805	25,435	55,761	[1]	1,156	[1]	109,211					25,435		12,363		1,286
Net sales price												25,768				1,782		110,709		20,631
Gain on discontinued operations																379
Secured credit facility, borrowing capacity	1,150,000					1,150,000					525,000
Revenues of discontinued operations																					896	19,817	13,517
Carrying amount of net investment in real estate assets	6,005,670			6,890,137		6,005,670		6,890,137													37,278
Carry value of mortgage and other indebtedness																					$ 39,484

[1] The referenced amounts for the years ended December 31, 2010 and 2009 have been restated. See Note 2 for more information. Loss on impairment of real estate for the year ended December 31, 2011 consisted of $53,458 related to Malls, $1,682 related to Community Centers and $621 related to All Other. Loss on impairment of real estate for the year ended December 31, 2010 consisted of $1,156 related to All Other. Loss on impairment of real estate of $109,211 for the year ended December 31, 2009 was related to Malls.